the “best available squad” against Yemen

With the Blue Samurai dealing with a number of injuries for today’s match against Yemen, Takeshi Okada will be fielding a significantly changed lineup. Oita Trinita’s Masato Morishige and Urawa Red Diamonds defender Yuki Abe and Marcus Tulio Tanaka are all out with injuries forcing a series of changes. Of the changes, Okada said:

“We have had a good preparation camp without having any major injuries to our players.

”We are moulding into a good unit now. We’ve been building up this team over the last year.”

While the recent friendly provided little clues it is expected that Tatsuya Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Shinzo Koroki (Kashima Antlers) and Mu Kanazaki (Oita Trinita) are will form a striking trident with Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale) heading up the midfield.